Tortilla Soup

by Linda Capeloto Sendowski on January 8, 2012

It is Sunday night. After a busy fun filled weekend, including a beautiful Shabbat Dinner of, Challah,Clear Soup,Waldorf Salad,Red Potato Salad, Pico de Gallo, Roasted Carrots, Roasted Cauliflower, Steamed Asparagus, Grilled Veal Chop, Cookies, Tea, and Fruit; a Saturday night party starting with an array of appetizers then a dinner of Roasted Chicken, potatoes, salad, and desserts; a Sunday morning with brunch followed by outdoor sports, I am exhausted, full, and need to cut my calories. We don’t really want to get dressed up enough to go to a restaurant SO WHAT SHALL WE HAVE for dinner?

A great idea popped into my head, how about soup for dinner. I have clear chicken stock, plenty of chicken from the making of the stock, and Tortilla soup is so satisfying. The spicy broth, feeling rich and silky on one’s palate contains chunks of tomato making one think they have eaten something substantial without any real heaviness. So here is the recipe for Sunday night, clean out the refrigerator, tortilla soup.

Serves 3 to 4

6 cups rich clear chicken soup

1 (14 ounce) can chopped tomatoes in juice

2/ 3 cup pico de gallo (leftover)

2 teaspoons cumin

2 teaspoons New Mexico Chili powder

2 teaspoons of Annatto, Achiote paste

4 tablespoons of Masa Harina (Maseca) (Tortilla flour)

1/ 2 cup warm water

2 cups shredded chicken (use leftover chicken from making broth)

1 cup lightly crushed tortilla chips, for garnish

1/ 2 cup cilantro leaves for garnish

1/ 2 avocado sliced in chunks (optional garnish)

Combine chicken broth, tomatoes, pico de gallo and spices in 8 quart soup pan. Add spices and bring soup to a boil. Mix Masa Harina with water to dissolve it and make slurry. Add slurry to the soup. Stir to combine everything. Let soup simmer for 20 minutes.

Place about 1/ 2 cup of shredded chicken in the bottom of each soup bowl. Ladle soup into bowls over chicken, and garnish with cilantro, tortilla chips and avocado. Easy? Right?